Petition Aims to Change Domestic Violence Wording in ND Century Code

FARGO, N.D. – A long-time friend of Denise Anderson is using her tragic death to help make sure domestic violence victims don’t fall through the cracks in North Dakota anymore.

Jodi Beauchene was friends with Anderson for nearly a decade. Her son says she filed a police report against Sheldon Davis, the man charged with killing her last week. He says police had their hands tied because North Dakota’s century code does not include estranged couples in domestic violence laws.

Beauchene’s Change.org petition wants to add protections for estranged couples, LGBTQ people and children into the century code.

“Their hands were tied because of the way the North Dakota Century Code is written. If it would have included “estranged” in the language without a doubt I believe that she would be alive today and he would be behind bars,” Beauchene said.

She says her petition has bipartisan support among state lawmakers and expects they will be brought up during the next legislative session in 2021.

Click here to see the petition.